is a walkin cooler occupiable space?

[mark handler]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has no set guidelines stating how long an employee may work in a walk-in freezer, but does require a safety device to be accessible from the freezer so that workers do not get trapped inside. Employers should ensure that their workers wear protective gear or clothing when working in potentially hazardous conditions such as walk-in freezers.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.osha.gov%2FSLTC%2Fyouth%2Frestaurant%2Fdelivery_freezers.html&ei=mhqeTaLjKtK_0QGQ17GwBA&usg=AFQjCNHPKvw1oRPjRhe0YW7yOsi9kTRN4Q&sig2=PFsp5ksO4OJIqT1TG512qg

OSHA Standards

Commercial kitchen managers are required to provide safe working conditions for their employees.

Child Labor Laws prohibit young workers younger than 16 from performing freezer or meat cooler work.

The following OSHA standards are designed to protect employees who are subject to cold working conditions:

•Standard 1910.37. A panic bar or other means of exiting from the inside of walk-in coolers and freezers must be provided to prevent workers from being trapped inside.

•Standard 1910.132. Employers must supply and enforce the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when employees are performing potentially hazardous tasks. When unloading delivery trucks during cold months or doing work in the walk-in freezer, employees must wear warm clothing to protect themselves from frostbite.

•Standard 1910.22(a)(2). Floors in every workroom must be clean and dry. In walk-in refrigeration units, water or food that has been spilled can freeze and become a slipping hazard.

 

[BSSTG]

Good Grief!

What have I done?

BSSTG

 

[FredK]

Gee surprised this isn't 5-6 pages by now.

Never would have thought of people "working" in a cooler. Stocking for a short time maybe but working?

As to a large "party room" like FM mentioned that could require some more thought but the average one in the AM/PM type operation or even the milk butter cooler in supermarkets---no.

 

[cda]

I think this is at FM's house:

http://govegas.about.com/od/attractions/ig/Explore-Las-Vegas.-JBj/Minus-5-Ice-Lounge.htm

 

[FM William Burns]

Nothing like ice cold Ketel One

Here's what we are seeing, specifically the picture on left where customers walk in and in some establishments sample like wine tasting:

http://www.americanwalkincoolers.com/beercaves.html

We have a 2500 s.f. one in the township just out of my regulatory reach but not my consumer reach

 

[Marshal Chris]

Good Grief!What have I done?

BSSTG

Same thing happened to me when I posed the questing regarding hasps and locks on the outside of the walk in door!

 

[Mr. Inspector]

Burns, how do these walk in coolers for the customers pass code for ventilation?

 

[Builder Bob]

Depends - R U in it when an emergency occur? such as man with gun, fire, etc.

It really is a matter of perspective.

 

[cda]

How does a 20000 sq ft cooler pass ventilation requirements??

Are there any or is there an exception , like in the fire code for high piled stock and vents????

 

[JBI]

"A room or enclosed space designed for human occupancy in which individuals congregate for amusement, educational or similar purposes or in which occupants are engaged in labor, and which is equipped with means of egress and light and ventilation facilities meeting the requirements of this code."

Right Code Section, wrong highlight... Foucus on the sixth through ninth words of the first sentence. "...designed for human occupancy..." The walk-in cooler is not designed for human occupancy, it is designed for cold storage.

FMWB - I know the set-up you're referring to. We have some smaller grocery stores that allow customers into a limited area to grab their cold ones. I would suggest that once you let John Q. Public into the space it becomes retail floor space, not unlike letting customers into the 'temporary greenhouse'...

 

[cda]

or similar purposes""" or """in which occupants are engaged in labor,

So then someone could argue a dry store warehouse is not an occupiable space, if code ventilation is not provided

 

[FM William Burns]

Burns, how do these walk in coolers for the customers pass code for ventilation?

Great question. Probably why we don't have it in the jurisdiction. I will "politically correctly ask" the AHJ.

 

[JBI]

cda - Grammer check! The 'or' you so verily emphsized does not affect the portion of the sentence I quoted as central to the arguement.

First it must be a room or enclosed space.

Second it must be designed for human occupancy.

THIRD it must be used for one the listed reasons/purposes.

In the OP, the first element was met - the room or space is enclosed.

However it fails to meet the second element - it is not designed for human occupancy (Your 'dry store warehouse' on the other hand likely was designed for human occupancy...).

Common sense may not always apply to the Code, but the rules of grammer ALWAYS do.

 

[globe trekker]

Big John,

Me thinks it is actually "grammar", not "grammer".

.

 

[cda]

"A room or enclosed space designed for human occupancy

Is this defined in the code??

I seems like a 20000 sq ft cooler would be designed for human occupancy since I have seen humans occupying one????

Ok how about a large sauna room??? Does that meet occupiable space????

 

[JBI]

Point - counterpoint! You caught my spelling error. Nice.

A sauna would be designed for human occupancy... The walk-in cooler is designed to keep things cold. The occasional presence of an employee shifting stock around is incidental to the cooler's purpose.

I can stand in a walk-in closet, does that make it occupiable space? No, it means I have a big closet.

I can stand in broom closet too. Doesn't make it anything more than a broom closet.

 

[cda]

So let's recap

Cooler- bad

Sauna- good

Cooler- not occubiable space

Sauna- occubiable space

Cooler- cold

Sauna- hot

Cooler- no seats

Sauna- seats

So if I put a seat in the cooler, I have a cool occubiable space !!!!

I give up

I guess code does not apply to large coolers

 

[FM William Burns]

Now that is just plain funny.... Cda. Nice way to start off the day making the public happy with our regulating efforts. Hey, customer service here we go

 

[north star]

$ $ $ $

Hang in there cda, ...it's going to get better!

Another recap [ from the `06 IBC ]: From Ch. 2 - Definitions:"Occupiable Space - A

room or enclosed space designed for human occupancy in which individuals congregate

for amusement, educational or similar purposes or in which occupants are engaged at

labor, and which is equipped with means of egress and light and ventilation facilities

meeting the requirements of this code."

From " jhperez ", ...Section 1204.1 - Equipment and systems."Interior spaces intended

for human occupancy shall be provided with active or passive space-heating systems

capable of maintaining a minimum indoor temperature of 68°F (20°C) at a point 3 feet

( 914 mm ) above the floor on the design heating day.

Exception: Interior spaces where the primary purpose is not associated with

human comfort."

From " cda ", ...Section 1015.5 - Refrigerated rooms or spaces. "Rooms or spaces

having a floor area of 1,000 square feet (93 m2) or more, containing a refrigerant

evaporator and maintained at a temperature below 68°F (20°C), shall have access to

not less than two exits or exit access doors.

Travel distance shall be determined as specified in :Next('./icod_ibc_2006f2_10_sec016.htm')'>Section 1016.1, but all portions

of a refrigerated room or space shall be within 150 feet (45 720 mm) of an exit or

exit access door where such rooms are not protected by an approved automatic

sprinkler system......Egress is allowed through adjoining refrigerated rooms or spaces.

Exception: Where using refrigerants in quantities limited to the amounts based on

the volume set forth in the International Mechanical Code. "

From Section 102.1 - General:"Where, in any specific case, different sections of

this code specify different materials, methods of construction or other

requirements, the most restrictive shall govern.......Where there is a conflict

between a general requirement and a specific requirement, the specific

requirement shall be applicable. "

What is the "most restrictive" application here?

$ $ $ $

 

[permitguy]

And in the context of the OP, it still doesn't matter!

 

[jhperez]

Point - counterpoint! You caught my spelling error. Nice. A sauna would be designed for human occupancy... The walk-in cooler is designed to keep things cold. The occasional presence of an employee shifting stock around is incidental to the cooler's purpose.

I can stand in a walk-in closet, does that make it occupiable space? No, it means I have a big closet.

I can stand in broom closet too. Doesn't make it anything more than a broom closet.

The entire Chapter 10 of the IBC is premised on human occupancy. By your comment a storage room would be designed for storage and not human occupacy, yet Table 1004.1 clearly states 300sqft per occupant and not per item stored.

The OP was about travel distance and that has nothing to do with occupiable space. It is measured from the most remote point in the building.

To cda:1016.1 refers you to 1019.2. #3 refers you to 1015.1. #3 again refers you to1015.5. 1015.5 only applies to the cooler. If it is over 1000sqft or has 150ft of travel distance, then two exits are needed. The building as a whole has to comply with 1016.1.

 

[JBI]

jhperez, while you offer valid points and food for thought... the OP was actually "is a walkin cooler occupiable space?"

BSSTG went on to give background about the project, and his concern actually doesn't have anything to do with 'occupiable space', but that was his OP.

 

[permitguy]

I understand your point, but the title and the content of the OP were incompatible. Once it was established that "occupiable space" was irrelevant to the actual question, three additional pages of debate over occupiable space is likely to cause confusion when someone references this thread in the future. JMHO.

 

[Papio Bldg Dept]

Point - counterpoint! You caught my spelling error. Nice. A sauna would be designed for human occupancy... The walk-in cooler is designed to keep things cold. The occasional presence of an employee shifting stock around is incidental to the cooler's purpose.

I can stand in a walk-in closet, does that make it occupiable space? No, it means I have a big closet.

I can stand in broom closet too. Doesn't make it anything more than a broom closet.

JBI...If the walk-in cooler is designed with tables and equipment (meat slicer, outlets, et.c) for prep work on the inside of the cooler, is designed to provide lighting for those tasks, keep stored and prepped items cold, and provide proper ventilation, would it not then meet your #2 requirement for being designed for human occupancy?